Officials representing Laneco union workers in a 12-day-old strike revealed plans yesterday to file "very important" legal action against Laneco early next week,as well as plans to hold a demonstration with "1,000-plus" union members on the parking lot of one of the store's supermarket competitors.

In response to questioning at a press conference yesterday, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1357 President Wendell Young also revealed an informal negotiating session between top Laneco and union officials took place Thursday in Allentown.

Young said Laneco Chairman Raymond Bartolacci spoke with Allen Lee, the union's director of collective bargaining. Young reported that there was "minor movement" in the union's favor.

But the talks broke down, Young claimed, because Laneco's legal counsel, a New York-based law firm, convinced Bartolacci to hold fast on its position against the union.

"I felt there could have been much more movement had it not been for the influence of the lawyers," Young said, claiming that Bartolacci also admitted at the session that union efforts to convince shoppers to boycott Laneco's 20 area stores were beginning to take a toll on Laneco business.

Asked to comment on Young's statements, Laneco Personnel Director Charles Azzalina said, "We are not going to comment on anything they might have said or have said."

He declined to confirm details of what took place at Thursday's reported informal negotiating session and particularly declined to comment on whether the boycott is hurting Laneco business.

Laneco Chairman Raymond Bartolacci could not be reached for comment.

Young would not detail the nature of legal action Local 1357 plans to take Monday or Tuesday against Laneco, or where such action might be filed. He would only say the action could "cost them a lot of money, personally and for the company."

A press conference will be called early in the week to detail the action, he said.

Steve Curto, Local 1357 staff member, said the conclusion of a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Philadelphia yesterday produced no decision on Laneco's claim that it can open new stores without union labor.

The union had filed an unfair labor practices charge that Laneco has refused to arbitrate unionization for three stores in Bethlehem, Kutztown and Palmer Township.

Some 1,000 workers out of Laneco's estimated 1,250 work force went out on strike April 1, protesting, among other things, Laneco's opening of three stores without union contracts. The union rejected the company's proposed three-year offer that would have meant rollbacks in salaries for some workers and modifications to the pension plan.

State Rep. Robert Freeman, D-136th, whose legislative district includes the area of the company's Wilson-based headquarters, told reporters that Laneco's tactics "have not gone over well in the community." Freeman referred in particular to Laneco's full-page advertisements in area newspapers recruiting workers to replace striking workers immediately after they walked out.

"One thing that irritated me is that they so blatantly sought scab labor," said Freeman, who was once a member of Local 1357. "It behooves the Bartolaccis as members of this community to bargain in good faith," Freeman added.

Asked about the fate of the "scab" workers in the event a settlement might be reached, Young responded, "We haven't had a strike in 23 years that we have ever allowed those type people to work."

Union officials indicated that Laneco's practice of hiring the non-union labor to replace the striking work force will be a major point of protest at the rally scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday in Bethlehem.

John Brennan, Local 1357 vice president, said the rally is planned for the parking lot adjacent to the Shop Rite supermarket at 1740 Stefko Blvd., Bethlehem, which is located a short distance from a Laneco department store. Young said Shop Rite management gave permission for the rally to be held there.

Brennan said the rally will be "unprecedented" in Lehigh Valley labor history in that it will carry the endorsement of 50,000 members from unions throughout the area. He said the union's efforts "have shown all the ingredients of a successful strike."

Gail E. Meyer, president of the Northampton County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said both her organization and the Lehigh County Labor Council will be co- sponsoring the rally. She reported that her council has collected 5,000 signatures on a petition asking workers to boycott Laneco stores.

Union shop stewards from throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania will be participating in the rally, according to Young. A decision will be forthcoming next week on whether striking workers will receive strike benefits or unemployment benefits, Young said. "They'll receive one or the other by next week," he said.